Alleged illegal gambling operation shut down

Two suspects were arrested and a third man is being sought in connection with what authorities are calling an illegal gambling operation in Dawson County.

Deputies on Saturday night raided the Shell gas station at Hwy. 53 and Ga. 400 and the Citgo on Hwy. 9 South, near the Dawson-Forsyth County line in Silver City.

Dawson County Sheriff's spokesman Capt. Tony Wooten said investigators received information that management at the stores was paying out cash winnings on poker machines.

While the coin-operated gaming machines are legal in the state, cash payouts are not.

After a more than two month investigation, the sheriff's office executed search warrants at both convenience stores Saturday night and confiscated six coin-operated poker machines at each location, as well as several thousand dollars in cash.

Managers at each store were also taken into custody and charged with commercial gambling.

Ravikumar Kondaveeti and Avinash Kondaveeti were released on bond Sunday morning.

Authorities continue to search for Syed Shaffiuddin of Lawrenceville in connection with the case.

"There's still another individual involved in this that's wanted," Wooten said. "We got information that these locations were paying out in cash. That's illegal and what got the investigation going."

The stores were allowed to reopen on Sunday.

"We've had this happen in the past. We try to watch as close as we can," Wooten said. "We were tipped off as to what was going on...and it led to two arrests...and seizing the machines."